1) In 2019, US spent $900/year per toddler on childcare. Sweden, where I live, spent 18 times more: $16,100 per child. Cheap, accessible daycare vital for working parents (and women in particular). Also says a lot about how society views children, parenthood & work-life balance. 2) In Sweden 40hrs/week daycare (age 1-6) costs HIGHEST earners MAX €150 ($160)/month for 1st child, €100 2nd, €50 3rd. So, richest families w/3 kids in daycare won't pay more than €300 ($330)/month. Means-tested so most pay less, never more 3% monthly income. There’s more.

1) Elon Musk amplified a New York Post piece by Douglas Murray about Sweden using a well-worn genre I call "Sweden is a Collapsing Marxist Hellhole." Formula is standard: some decontextualized truths mixed with myths, bullshit and outright misinformation. So, let's have a look. 2) Let's start with Murray's grasp of recent Swedish political history. Murray describes decision to take in Syrian refugees as being made by a "left-wing government." That fits in with a great deal of the discourse about Swedish immigration policy. The problem? It's bullshit.

1) A little Christmas story from Sweden about free speech and self-proclaimed "free speech absolutist" Musk's Tesla and X/Twitter. Striking Tesla worker Janis in Sweden gets a phone call from boss asking how he's doing. Boss then brings up Janis' wife. aftonbladet.se/minekonomi/a/v… 2) Janis' boss says it came to their attention that Janis' wife had made critical comments about Tesla on her X/Twitter account, which is a violation of his contract with Tesla. Janis was confused, as it was his wife who posted, not him. And, she surely had free speech rights?

1) The private US healthcare system is the most inefficient, ineffective among comparable wealthy nations. And it's not even close. Report by King's Fund in the UK (comparing UK's National Health Service to healthcare systems in similar wealthy nations) shows this very clearly. 2) If you look at healthcare spending per capita or as a % of GDP, the United States is far, far ahead of other comparable nations. With spending like this, you would assume that US has one of the best health systems and healthiest populations in the world. You would be wrong.

1) Homicide statistics for Sweden are out: 116 murders in 2022. If you follow intl. media, and know little else about the country, you might assume this is high by Swedish standards. Or even the highest ever. It isn't, and that's part of the problem with intl. coverage of Sweden. 2) Murders in Sweden per 100,000 residents over the past 5 years:
2022: 1.11
2021: 1.08
2020: 1.20
2019: 1.08
2018: 1.06
This doesn't fit image of unseen levels of murder in Sweden. Sweden's murder rate has been v. consistent over last 40 years (between 0.8-1.2 per 100,000).

1) Getting gun in Sweden: apply w/police after 6 mos active membership in registered gun club. May not be carried in public. Gun safe req'd. Hunting in Sweden: written theory test (70 qs, min. 60 correct); 3 different practical tests (security, accuracy); license. #Nashville 2) Don’t let gun nuts bullshit you about Europeans "having their guns taken away." Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway all have many legal weapons. Gun control is about testing, training, licenses and restricting access to high-powered weapons no civilian would ever need. #Nashville

1) Musk says I & others will lose our "legacy" Twitter checkmarks at the start of April. That's fine with me. But, argument is that this new system "democratizes" Twitter is complete and utter bullshit. It makes it a place where money buys clout: the opposite of "democracy." 2) Like many other issues forwarded by the right, a "free speech" argument is used to frame something that has zero to do w/free speech. Twitter checkmarks were about verifying that the person you're reading is that person. Twitter Blue is about paying to be amplified. Period.

1) Debate in UK right now about insanely expensive daycare crushing families. I live in Sweden with subsidized daycare, subsidized pre/after-school care, paid days to care for sick kids. On top of this, state gives parents a monthly benefit for each child.

https://twitter.com/ChrChristensen/status/1634167422298062848?s=20

2) As someone who grew up in the US, it's hard to overstate impact of progressive policies on childcare for parents in Sweden. The pressure it takes off of working parents, and especially working mothers, is obvious. The benefits cut across a number of areas, not just financial.

1) 37 years ago today, Olof Palme was murdered on a Stockholm street as he walked home after attending the cinema with his wife. As he often did, he refused to have a bodyguard with him. Even today, the idealism strikes me as both tragic and inspirational. 2) In '72 Palme labeled US bombing of Hanoi an atrocity. Asked if he regretted what he said, he answered: “I don't regret it because in this world you have to speak out fairly loud to make anyone listen. I can't keep silent on this issue and won't be pressurized into silence."

1) Victory of Swedish Right-Nationalist bloc has raised issues of "Swedish-ness" and "Swedish culture." Made me think of my life split between US & Europe, and how US commercial culture has impacted European local "culture," "values" and "language" more than any immigrant group. 2) Swedes shop at "Black Friday" sales, eat out at US fast-food restaurants, see US films at theaters filled w/US productions & watch old US programs on Swedish TV. But, not a word from "nationalists" claiming to be so very concerned about decline of Swedish culture, language.

1) Many men commenting on Sweden from outside the country, and who claim to be "concerned for women," never seem to have posted anything about feminism, women's rights, misogyny or sexual assault unless they think an immigrant is involved. There's a clear pattern here. 2) When #MeToo hit Sweden in 2017, public debate on sexual assault in relation to immigrants to Sweden was already in full swing. Significant portions of the political right were using ”protecting women” angle to frame all immigrants as actual or potential sexual predators.

First exit poll from public broadcaster SVT for elections in Sweden:

Social Democrats largest party 29.3%
SD 2nd largest 20.5%
Moderates 3rd largest 18.8%

Projection is narrow Left-Center bloc win by 3 seat margin. But, just a poll. Margin of error. Lots of counting to do. (2) New exit poll from commercial Swedish TV4 also has Left-Center bloc winning the election with 50.6% of the vote, a slightly larger margin than they had the SVT exit poll. Results a disaster for Moderates, who now clearly behind Sweden Democrats as 2nd largest party.

1) Far-right Sweden Democrats at 20% before tomorrow's elections. Party has roots in neo-Nazi movement. After stories exposing online racism among candidates party claims zero tolerance for extremists. But how would media, other parties react if their "roots" were something else? 2) Like other far-right parties in Europe (think Marine Le Pen's National Rally), Sweden Democrats point to the historical nature of their connections to anti-democratic, racist ideologies. That these elements are now "in the past" and the party should be judged on 2022 not 1982.

1) Just a few words about PeterSweden, who I tweeted about earlier, and is who claiming that he never sent the tweets in question. The deleted tweets have been covered elsewhere, including this one where some are actually quoted directly in the text. huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/katie-ho… 2) Here is another story from July 2017 where some tweets are addressed and quoted (with dates), and where PeterS claims that his views on the Holocaust were "long left behind me." thejc.com/news/uk-news/b…

1) Elections coming in Sweden with usual debate about immigrants, immigration and integration into Swedish society. But what about when Europeans are the immigrants? The double-standards are telling. A few observations here from someone with Nordic parents who were "immigrants." 2) My parents left Denmark/Sweden in late 50s. Until their deaths, they held on to their national traditions while living abroad. Christmas, Easter, midsummer, language, food. Many of their friends were other Danes and Swedes they met in the US and UK. They liked the familiarity.

26 years ago, a gunman entered Dunblane Primary School in Scotland, killing 16 kids and a teacher. The UK govt responded by enacting tight gun control legislation. In the 9400+ days since, there have been a total of 0 school shootings in the UK. #Uvalde You may well ask: "Were there mass school shootings BEFORE Dunblane?" Answer: No. But, the fact that UK government took action after one event shows what I consider to be decisive action. Gun control clearly made it less likely to happen again...and that's the whole point.